I'm concerned however about the wireless thing. As it uses the GSM network but doesn't have a sim card (to pay for the services). I would think there is some kind of agreement with the Cellnet companies and Amazon. The chances are, unless it is officially released in the UK, the Wireless features will not work in the UK.

No, it doesn't use GSM, it uses EVDO which is a technology built on CDMA networks. The wireless facilities are provided solely by the US telecoms operator "Sprint", so it certainly won't work outside the USA.

Quote:

Therefore getting books onto it would involve the same amount of work as for the Cybook and Sony - you have to get the book into the format you want, then dump it onto the Kindle via USB. It doesn't look like it reads 'normal' mobipocket books however and I don't think there is a PC conversion kit to make the books for you. Leaving you with RTF's and Txt's (presuming these are supported natively).

It does read DRM-free Mobipocket format books. RTF is not supported. Text is.

It is the Kindle that I want. Sorry, I know people love their Sony and Cybook readers, but Sony is out for me because of the mac issue, and I'm really not keen on the Cybook. I'd prefer to go wit Amazon, so any advice about getting a virtual credit card etc would be greatly appreciated.

The problem is, how would you get your content? When you buy a kindle book on Amazon it is delivered to your Kindle over the Sprint Cellular network. There is no option to download it, from what I have seen and heard.

So, until there is wireless support for the Kindle outside the US I think the Sony or Cybook is actually a better choice.

The problem is, how would you get your content? When you buy a kindle book on Amazon it is delivered to your Kindle over the Sprint Cellular network. There is no option to download it, from what I have seen and heard.

So, until there is wireless support for the Kindle outside the US I think the Sony or Cybook is actually a better choice.

BOb

No. You can download the ebook to your PC, and use a USB cable to transfer it to the Kindle.

No, it doesn't use GSM, it uses EVDO which is a technology built on CDMA networks. The wireless facilities are provided solely by the US telecoms operator "Sprint", so it certainly won't work outside the USA.

Just for clarity, while WhiserpNet's EVDO deal is with Sprint, they're not the only EVDO/CDMA provider in the US. Verizon also uses CDMA, in addition to various smaller networks like MetroPCS.

Is there software for the Kindle that works with OS X? If not, then the Kindle will need you to have a Windows setup in order to to use the software. I know for sure there is no version of Mobipocket for OS X. So using that to convert content is a no go with OS X.

I have a Mac and Kindle does indeed mount as a flash disk under OS X which will allow file transfers. And I have a 1 gig SD card in the Kindle and that shows up on my mac as another flash disk. So it works perfectly. I have copied several books over both via download and usb transfer.

As was mentioned before, for the conversion workaround, you just email your .html or .doc files to the @free.kindle.com addy they supply you with and and they convert to un DRM'd .azw files and email you the converted file. For me, it takes around 5 minutes or so to get the file emailed back to you. And as we all know, the un-DRM'd .azw file is just a .prc (mobi) file with a different extension.

Jjust for consistency and to keep it along with my other .prc files (mostly downloaded from here at mobilread), I just rename the extension to .prc and it shows up on Kindle fine.

And Kovid mentioned that he is working on a html2prc program, so if that even comes close to working as good as his other programs, it will solve this minor mac conversion issue.

Why do you believe that the Sony is a better option, as a matter of interest?

All the readers have pros & cons functionally. My belief that Sony or Kindle are better options are really just my personal opinions only based on the fact that they are cheaper, they are large recognised corporations with the resources to keep a foothold as things open up to more and more devices and because I don't like the customer service I've experienced from Bookeen or their attitude to differential pricing.

Seeing what the kindle can do and today finding out that Dymocks here in Australia are bringing out their own reader locally, I'm glad to have held back a little bit to see how things pan out.

For lots of people Cybook is probably the best option but not for everyone.

I'm curious about why you'd want one? The only thing that really differentiates the Kindle from any other eInk bookreader at present is the wireless download, and that won't work outside North America. If all you want to do is read books, you may as well just buy a CyBook!

Actually the wireless wasn't a huge deal for me (aside from Wikipedia search). The biggest factors for me over the Cybook were library search as well as dictionary search and the ability to annotate and excerpt text. I was ready to go with the Cybook because I thought my chance of getting anything like that short of an iLiad was slim, but now I can have those features for pretty much the same price.

they are large recognised corporations with the resources to keep a foothold as things open up to more and more devices and because I don't like the customer service I've experienced from Bookeen or their attitude to differential pricing.

My reasoning is that since Sony is a big company they will probably not be as fast to fix bugs in the firmware as a small company. And they will probably be more reluctant to add new functionality.

Actually the wireless wasn't a huge deal for me (aside from Wikipedia search). The biggest factors for me over the Cybook were library search as well as dictionary search and the ability to annotate and excerpt text. I was ready to go with the Cybook because I thought my chance of getting anything like that short of an iLiad was slim, but now I can have those features for pretty much the same price.

I am thinking the same way and if I had not already bought a Gen3 and if it was easier to buy a Kindle from Europe it would be a really hard decision what to buy. I really like that you can annotate and excerpt text on the Kindle.